The last 2-3yr I have been resawing Ash and Maple for my WW projects, often 8-9in wide. Today I began a new project using Ponderosa Pine. I began by resawing 10in wide 12/4 lumber and quickly learned just how resinous this pine really is. In less than 10ft of resawing, my BS blade and wheels were loaded with resin. I have been running my 14in Rikon #10-325 at 2950fpm with a 3/4in 3TPI blade.

That said,...
Would there be any advantage to switch to the lower 1,445fpm speed, in hopes of lowering the resinous buildup when resawing pine?

Mike, I recently bought a new Timberwolf resaw blade (3/4”, 2-3 TPI, with VERY deep gullets) that has really helped with green or resinous woods. It is the bi-metallic (little pricy) but they claim it will outlast 10 regular blades. The deep gullets seem to clear “crud” from the cut rather than trapping/burning it onto the blade.

I know you asked about changing speeds,not blades. I have never run my Grizz at the slower speed so can’t offer an opinion.

I think mostly it will force you to reduce feed rate. In generalwith resawing I feed as quick as possible because dawdlingin the cut dulls the teeth. Considering that a fast feedprobably leads to heat, perhaps going slower would work well.

You might try waxing the blade. Maybe the pitch will stickto the wax and be easier to strip off

My blade is the Timberwolf 3tpi 3/4in. 0.025in thickness. I still have the OEM mounting card and that is all it says, so I am left to assume that this is the 3/4×3AS-S blade according to the Sulfolk Machinery site. If that is so, then it is only supposed to be good on hardwoods 6-10 and softwoods of 5-8in thickness. This may be the issue.

I am making a series of Narrow Amish Cabinets and the largest boards are of 10in wide variety. I have muddled through most of the widest stuff for the first cabinet. I now see the need for the 3/4” x 2/3VPC 0.025in variety of the blade and will order that in short order. Cannot get the bi-metal in the 111in size though.

Funny thing is, I was thinking about replacing my current TW 3/4in anyway. It has been on the BS for 3yr and done much resawing. I even had to take a stone to the backside recently, to eliminate some curling of the back edge from the rear guide bearing. This thing still seems sharp, but I am obviously maxing out its capabilities at this point.

QUESTION: Since I am going to be ordering, what other blade sizes might I also consider purchasing at this time? I currently also have a low mileage TW 1/4in x 10RK-TPI.

You have gotten really good mileage from that TW resaw blade! I use 131 1/2” blades so don’t know what is available in your length. As far as other blades you need: depends on what you want to do. I use my 1 TPI resaw for sawing logs but it is a bi-metal and is 1” wide. I have blades from 1/8” to 1” and use them all for different cuts.

My TW 3 TPI that I started with did not have the deep gullets and would load up with pitch a LOT worse than the new one.

I call TW with a description of what I want to cut and they recommend the best blade for the job. They haven’t steered me wrong yet.

Thanks for the input Jim. The way I currently understand things (may or may not be accurate) is that high carbide blades are either not good for or won’t work on 14in and smaller BSs because of the tight radius of the wheels fatigue the carbide into failure too soon. Does that sound correct?

I am certainly no authority on the subject but I could see where the carbide wouldn’t flex and fatigue would cause the blade to break. The manufacturer should be able to tell you about the minimum bend radius. I know that some of the cheap (mostly) band saws had small wheels. They could achieve a deeper throat and have a small saw. Those things used blades in a big way. The larger the wheel the better. If the blade goes around even an inch of the wheel it flexes all it needs to. Might as well take it around half the wheel. If you had 3 wheels like the cheap saw I am talking about then you would flex and straighten the blade at least 3 times in a revolution. I would talk to the manufacturer. I dealt with oilfield wireline equipment in a previous life. There was different bend radii for different wires and it was meant to be used that way. We gave out that info all the time. They were our customers.

Yeah Grandpa, that pretty much jives with what I am finding on the published materials for TimberWolf blades. For hobbiests like me, we just don’t go through enough blades in quick enough order, to gain a sense of details of the best/different blades available to us. I at least feel fortunate enough to have purchased nothing smaller than a 14in BS to do my resawing. BTW, another thing I am learning is how to take ‘better’ care of my blades.

According to the Suffolk Machinery site:”...Fatigue Ratio of a Band Saw Blade: The stress being applied to the blade body; due to wheel diameter, blade length, thickness, speed (surface feet per minute-S.F.P.M.) and tension.

Band Saw Mills running 1 1/4″ and larger blades by .042 thick on wheel diameters smaller than 19″ will also experience decreased blade body life (flex life) due to the smaller wheels. The blade as it travels around the wheel is compressed on the inside of the body, which is closest to the wheel and stretched on the outside of the body. Blades are designed to absorb repeated compression and expansion of the body as long as the compression and expansion does not exceed the steels capabilities. Small band saw wheels exceed the steels capabilities. Two wheel machines, with smaller than 14″ wheels, using 1/8″ to 3/4″ blades will encounter 20% to 50% less blade life. With machines 14″ and larger, you will see blade life increase proportionally. You will encounter decreased blade life with any three-wheel band saw even if the wheels are larger than 14″…

AND THIS, concerning carbide tipped blades:”...This blade is designed to cut wood with moisture content of 10% or less & can only be used on 18″ and larger vertical band saws….”

Good info there. In Oklahoma schools can go to a salvage type place located in Oklahoma City and buy anything they have on the yard for scrap price by the pound I believe. It was something like that back when I was in College. My school went there and bought a band saw with 42 inch wheels. It was a monster. Our wood shop was in this OLD building and I think it had over 8 ft ceilings. They had to build a base for the saw to set on so this all worked. They chiseled a pocket part way through the floor and stood the saw up there. They had the thing going up into the bar joists that held up the next floor. They were working on it when I graduated. I have often wondered how it turned out. Not sure they even teach woodworking anymore. If a guy had the place to park that thing it would be something to brag about if you could make it work. LOL blade should last forever

Mike, I used ponderosa pine ONE time to make a reproduction of a New Mexico territorial style “traster.” That’s Spanish for “armoire.” I endured the pitch on my TS blade, but when I saw how bad the ponderosa blotched when it was stained, I decided NEVER to use it again. Instead, I use sugar pine for anything I make of pine. It’s relatively clear, straight-grained, has minimal pitch, takes stain fairly well, and is as fragrant as maple syrup.

This is a “banco,” the equivalent of a settle or settee. All the joints are mortise and tenon, including the splats on the seat back. The seat is hinged for storage of lap quilts. It’s 100 per cent solid sugar pine. I used historical design elements and dimensioned it for two people.